The new government of Pres. Álvaro Uribe completed its first year in office in August 2003 and continued to face the challenges of reforming a political system with little public support and responding to the long-standing and violent conflict with guerrilla groups. Uribe’s promised tough stand against guerrillas was very popular at home (and in the U.S. Congress). In the war on drugs, fumigation efforts cut coca exports by approximately one-third. President Uribe boosted military spending, promised a police presence in all parts of the country, helped arm peasants in already-violent areas, and proposed wider powers of arrest and detention for the military.

The government’s advances seemed only to enhance the resolve of the largest guerrilla group—the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In a particularly potent attack, 36 people were killed and 160 were injured when a bomb exploded at Club El Nogal in northern Bogotá in February. A military rescue attempt gone awry in May resulted in the killing by the guerrillas of 10 hostages—including a governor and a former defense minister who had been taken hostage while leading a peace march in 2002. Kidnappings and bombings continued apace throughout the year and were expected to intensify around local, state, and national referendum elections in late October. The wisdom of prisoner exchanges was debated repeatedly, especially after the FARC released a tape of a former presidential candidate and senator, Ingrid Betancourt, calling on President Uribe to negotiate her release.

The government continued to discuss a peace accord with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)—an extremely violent right-wing paramilitary group. The government’s decision to submit an amnesty bill to Congress and to consider alternative punishments for guerrillas released from jail to participate in peace talks resulted in sharp criticism from members of the U.S. Congress and human rights organizations that had reported AUC atrocities. The government claimed that without this tool in its repertoire, it could not expect armed groups seriously to consider laying down their weapons.

While relations between the new administration and the U.S. president remained generally positive, relations with the U.S. Congress (and the United Nations) were occasionally strained by seemingly contradictory moves—stepping up arrests and detentions of suspected guerrilla supporters and criticizing human rights organizations while asking for the power to grant amnesty to those already convicted of violent acts. U.S. Special Forces troops were sent to the country early in the year, however, and it seemed unlikely that any small rifts with the U.S. or even the shooting down of an American fumigation plane by guerrillas would jeopardize the continued disbursement of funds under Plan Colombia.

The government used a great deal of its capital at home in the pursuit of political reform. The executive branch initially announced its intent to put a referendum before the voters that included a wide-ranging series of reforms, but several parts of the package were dropped along the way owing to pressure from Congress and a Supreme Court ruling that declared parts of the proposal unconstitutional. In an effort to undercut the president’s momentum, Congress adopted its own more limited but still substantial set of political reforms related primarily to elections. The pared-down version of Uribe’s package was defeated in the referendum on October 25. Congress was divided between the internally diverse Liberal Party (the president’s former party), the Conservative Party, and a loose group of members claiming allegiance to the government. There were several important pieces of legislation on the agenda, and it was unclear as to the extent to which the government would be able to hold together support for its preferences during 2004.